If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

An Empire of Liberty

The sun never shined on a cause of greater worth. 'Tis not the affair of a city, a country, a province, or a kingdom, but of a continent of at least one eighth part of the habitable globe. 'Tis not the concern of a day, a year, or an age; posterity are virtually involved in the contest, and will be more or less affected, even to the end of time, by the proceedings now. Now is the seed time of continental union, faith and honor.
Thomas Paine, Common Sense 1776

"...we shall form to the American union a barrier against the dangerous extension of the British Province of Canada and add to the Empire of liberty an extensive and fertile Country thereby converting dangerous Enemies into valuable friends."
Jefferson to George Rogers Clark, December 25, 1780

Paine and Jefferson, voices from America's founding, echoing down throughout the ages, urging thier descendents to spread the creed of Freedom across the North American continent, voices that would be listened to.

Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

The expansion of America could not be formed in a vacum, factories were built, rail road track laid and two more divisions of dragoons raised, all with the goal of siezing unsettled lands of the Canadian west in the summer of the next year. Industrial technology and expertise, especialy on railroads, steamers and the use of coal were given to the patriots in Texas resisting Mexico's military dictatorship in return for them relinquishing their claim on the Oklahoma panhandle. Oklahoma was incorparted as territory of the United States of America on June 14th 1836. Michigan entered the Union has a state that same day.

Summer rolled around, several factories manufacturing fabric, glass, and steel were completed, putting the economy on better footing. On June 1st 1837 General Scott and Taylor were given the go ahead and the swooped across the border into Manitoba & Saskatchawon. And they would meet no resistance for nine days latter the British were pulled into a war with Russia after the invasion of their Ottoman ally, begining a series of wars that would straddel the entire globe and stretch the British Empire to it's limits.

The territories of the west were claimed one after another with astonishing rapidity, Wyoming on August 19th, Idaho on October 7th, Montana on November 6th, Washington on January 3rd 1838. The snowed in mountain passes however delayed the liberation of Oregon until May 30th, which was then brought into the Union as a state rather than a territory. The vast stretches of the sparsely populated north took even longer to bring under controll despite the lack of resistence.

The nation were momentarily distracted from the war in the west when the newly independent Texans asked to become a state of the Union on May 24th 1838. The congress of course quickly agreed, and assurances were made that their southern border would be moved south from the Nueces River to the Rio Grande as soon as hostilities in the north ended and was practical.

Texas officialy became a state on October 4th and Manitoba was claimed three days later. A month later on the 6th of December, Ontario was claimed as a territory. Yet despite the misfortunes of the British Empire and the chance to claim all of the North west, a white peace was made the next day, for the treacherous Mexicans had declared a war of colonialism upon our newly gained lands while our armies were to the north.

All of the territories on the border were granted statehood immediatly so as to assure them of the Union's continued support and devotion while our northern armies were moved to invade the unclaimed lands of Colorado and to guard the long border in case the Mexicans decided to escalate to total war. They were quickly driven from southwestern Colorado and the territory incorparated into the Union as a state on May 28th 1839 and on July 8th we acceped an offering of a white peace by the Mexicans, yet if they thought America would forget this stab in the back they would find them selves sorely mistaken.

Last edited by Tim O; 16-01-2004 at 01:10.

Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

The Mexicans had robbed America of a chance to sieze all of Saskatchawan, Alberta, British Columbia and the Northwest territories with the possibility of an escalation of the war and an invasion of Canada proper, for the British lion was in the process of being pulled down by a pack of hyenas. As the war with the Russia was just swinging into full force, the Prussians took advantage of this and invaded Belgium on April 13th 1838 after gaining military access from the Dutch. Britain and France immediatly stood by their treaty obligations and war spread across rhineland. With the French providing the majority of the forces fighting Prussia this may have left the British with enough manpower to resist an invasion of Canada, yet mere months later on June 10th Parliment voted to go to war with China over the Guangzhou murder! Truly their politicians must have gone mad with the stench of blood! Even the British military, the finest in all the world cannot wage war on such a scale.

Yet because of the Mexicans, the Canadian northwest will remain for the time being divided. And all thoughts have turned to enacting vengance on that nation and siezing their northwestern territories down to the Rio Grande.
================================================== ========

This is as far as I've gotten, it's the Summer of '39, I hope to invade in the spring of '41.

Last edited by Tim O; 16-01-2004 at 01:34.

Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Yet because of the Mexicans, the Canadian northwest will remain for the time being divided. And all thoughts have turned to enacting vengance on that nation and siezing their northwestern territories down to the Rio Grande.

Good choice. Secure that southern border and then take revenge on those bloody Brits!

On May 29th 1841 the United States of America declared war upon the dictatorial Mexican Empire, which at the time was helping the United States of Central America battle rebels. Taylor, his dragoons and infantry swept into northern California while Scott took his into Utah, assualting entrenched positions in Slat Lake City, while the uncommonly young Redding marched on San Antonio with the main striking force of 6 divisions. Several divisions of both infantry and struck into the other provinces of Texas and New Mexico. All in all 18 divisions were on the march, with more to come, the recruitng stationds were swamped with young men eager to fulfill the nation's manifest destiny.

The war in the west was fluid moving back and forth across the border as Scott was repulsed and Taylor outflanked, yet within two and a half years the coast of california north of Los Angeles had fallen to Taylor and he was working on pacifying that states interior.

Scott with 32,000 had at great cost hammered his way through Utah and taken northern Arizona and eastern Nevada. The harsh deserts of New Mexico were ignored by both parties and the small US forces trying to take controll of them slowly withered away, only bringing the northern third of the state under their controll in that time.

Redding however was unstoppable, San Antonio, Monteray, and everywhere in a straigt line between the Rio Grande and Mexico city fell before his 62,000 vetrans. The Mexicans were numerous but were unable to concentrate more then 20,000 men at any one point and were defeated time and again. There were repeated attempts by both partisans and regular forces to cut Reddings supply lines but they were delt with by a dragoon divsion tasked with that assignment.

Redding laid siege to Mexico City onSeptemberr 6th 1843, gaind control of it and all the surrounding lands by the 15th, and a good thing too for a Mexican army more than 30,000 strong freed up from the fighting in central America which had ended attacked. By this time Reddings arm was down to 45,000 and reinforces had just been redirected to the western theater and none would soon be forth coming. However, weary though they were, they were still to much for the Mexicans throwing them back to regroup again. A fresh 30,000 were thrown against them, it seemed there would be a bitter war of attrition over the Mexican capital as each gave as good as they got and as the fighting dragged into January the outcome of the battle was in doubt.

Yet the Mexican capital had been occupied for nearly five months and was being leveled by constant battle while the country as a whole strained to hold back the growing tide of American advances, therefore on January 9th 1844 Mexico agreed to peace on America's terms. They ceded the provinces of Corpus Criste, San Antonio, El Paso, Santa Fe,Tuba City, Salt Lake City, Moab, Beaver in Utah, Elko on Nevada, Alturus and Eureka. Thus making complete Texas, ceding the entire state of Utah, and the northern reaches of Arizona, New Mexico and California along with eastern Nevada.

Yet the fortunes of the Union were to increase, Mexico had been so economicly devestated by the war that it's people were rioting in the streets for bread and less then year after the treaty was signed on January 4th 1845, Mexico was forced to offer for sale the rest of New Mexico and Arizona to the Union, land so many Mexicans fell bravely defending, for 200,000 in British Sterling. Securing that much British currency was not cheap and combined with the debts incured in the war will weigh heavily on the economy for many years to come, yet with so much new land comming into the Union who can say it was not worth it. Still the defennse budgets, and domestic spending will have to be slashed.

While war raged across the soutwest it sputtered in the rest of the world. Russia ended the war with the Ottomans, rather mercifully only taken four provinces, and after spending years on the defensive Prussia managed to recapture it's western lands from the French and force a white peace. The only large war still going is that between the British Empire and China.

A border dispute in Maine with the British nearly flared into war in April of '44 but the nation was not ready for it so soon after the Mexican war. For now the nation must concentrated on expanding it's economy, although a colonial expidition against British claims in Saskatchawan and British Columbia with Dragoons left over from the war may be entertained. The British themselves had disregarded our singal claim in Alberta and claimed the entire colony. Such interfernece in one of our spheres of influence must not be tolerated, yet the nation must prepared for any attempts of revenge by the Mexicans and be ready to take advantage of such foolishness by driving them out of the rest of California and Nevada, and claiming them has our own.

Last edited by Tim O; 17-01-2004 at 18:39.

Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Nice job in the south. Keep up the pressure on Mexico and invade when your treaty is up. Take the rest of California and gain some land on the other side of the Rio Grande. Then you can turn north. And I can't wait.